Cons

Built on Salesforce Force.com technology platform, which is a plus for existing Salesforce users but a potential minus for everyone else.

Bottom Line

Fairsail HRMS is a solid HR management suite suitable for larger companies with foreign operations, a need to design people functions to match how they do business, and a budget to pay for this sophisticated level of configurability.

29 Sep 2018

Sage Business Cloud People (formerly Fairsail HRMS) is a hard-core human resources (HR) platform that might be geared more toward larger enterprises than small businesses. Yet, beginning at $10 per employee per month, Sage Business Cloud People's cloud-based platform is one of several players in the space, including Kronos Workforce Ready and SAP SuccessFactors, that targets midsize enterprises. The platform is a solid option for organizations with as few as 200 workers, according to Sage representatives. A company with employees in 10 countries typically needs about 90 days to get analytics, core HR, payroll, and reporting up and running, according to a Sage rep. This period of time would be too long for startups with a couple dozen employees, regardless of how many foreign-based workers they have.

Still, that's the primary downside of Sage Business Cloud People, and it's relegated mainly at small companies. For larger companies with the need for and time to invest in this level of HR functionality (especially those with a multinational presence), there's a lot to like about Sage Business Cloud People. In that respect, it joins vendors such as Cezanne OnDemand and WebHR as cloud-based HR suites that support different currencies and currency exchange rates, country holidays, languages, and payroll tax laws. Smaller companies that only do business domestically, however, will likely find Sage Business Cloud People to be too expensive of an offering for them.

Sage's Salesforce Connection

Sage calls its platform an "end-to-end" system and offers integrations with companies such as Salesforce. Another thing that sets Sage Business Cloud People apart from competitors is how it's built, which is on top of Salesforce's Force.com technology platform. Companies that already use Salesforce may find being familiar with the platform's back-end user interface (UI) helps them save time getting Sage Business Cloud People up and running. But companies don't have to be existing Salesforce customers to use Sage Business Cloud People. The Salesforce connection brings real-time visibility. Because they log in to the service directly, the vast majority of Sage Business Cloud People users may never know that when they request time off or change insurance beneficiaries, they're doing it through a Salesforce application.

Sage Business Cloud People is one of the only HR management services we tested that uses dual portals. One portal is a "Workforce eXperience (WX)" interface for employees and managers while the other portal is a separate behind-the-scenes UI for high-level system administrators such as an HR director or HR information systems (HRIS) manager. System admins access the separate UI to configure and manage the service using templates, checkboxes, and drag-and-drop features. They can create rules for onboarding employees in different countries or determine which class of employees has access to which features.

When employees or manager-level users log in to the WX portal, they see a well-organized home screen with dual main menus, one running down the left-hand side and another across the top. Each can be configured with tabs the company refers to as "buckets" that are linked to part or all of the service's major functions. Employees only see buckets related to their jobs or personnel files. Managers see separate bucket lists, one for themselves and one for their direct reports. Some of those buckets include Actions, Administration, Learning, My Documents, Onboarding, Org Chart, Performance, Personal Details, Search, Team, and Time. Clicking on a bucket opens drop-down menus for multiple sublevel activities.

The middle of the Sage Business Cloud People home screen is devoted to the Company Bulletin, a Facebook-like news feed that many core HR vendors now offer to keep employees inside the service as long as possible. This one can be set up to share birthdays, new hires, public recognitions, and maps of company locations (a handy shortcut for employees who regularly float between locations), and each section can be configured as necessary.

Onboarding New Employees

Sage Business Cloud People's core HR features a fully integrated applicant tracking (AT) system as part of its recruitment module. A closer look at Sage Business Cloud Recruit shows just how configurable the entire service is. System admins can configure Sage Business Cloud Recruit to automatically populate employee profiles with online application data from job hunters, data which then serves as their personnel file.

To add a job opening from the Sage Business Cloud Recruit system's admin portal's main navigation bar, an HR manager would click Openings > New to create a position, and then check boxes from a list of available options to create a step-by-step hiring plan, including posting the opening on job boards, setting up and conducting interviews, evaluating a candidate, and making an offer. On the WX portal, the job posting appears in the hiring manager's main navigation under Hiring > Internal Openings. Once a new hire is onboarded, the employee profile automatically appears in the main navigation menu under Org Chart, which can be expanded or collapsed by level or team.

Sage Business Cloud People offers a solid performance management feature set focused on the 360 review paradigm in which performance reviews don't just come from an employee's manager but his or her immediate work circle, too. This capability is bolstered by Sage Business Cloud People's deep employee profiles that track not only work history but also attendance, compensation, and benefits. Having all that information in one view can be invaluable for managers when ranking workers. Come performance review time, managers can use the Team > Performance bucket from the left-hand column or top navigation menu to set, review, or rate objectives, goals, and competencies for their direct reports. As with other parts of the suite, an HR manager or other system admin can configure review components to include ratings systems, questions, peer reviews, or other components depending upon what a company wants to include. Department managers also can set objectives for direct reports from their accounts by clicking Performance > Current Objectives > Edit Goals, and drafting a goal (e.g., "Increase production by 20 percent in Q3"). The system also lets managers copy or "clone" goals and assign them to multiple team members.

Getting started might sound daunting, but Sage People takes the sting out of the process by offering 24/7 online and phone support, a global customer service team, and an online user guide. Customers can also exchange tips on a Sage People user channel on Chatter, Salesforce's built-in collaboration and social network app.

Solid Benefits Administration

Sage Business Cloud People's benefits administration (BA) capabilities aren't fancy, but they get the job done. Employees can enroll in benefits through the platform's WX portal. Open enrollment includes dental, medical, and vision, along with options for basic and supplemental life insurance, dependent care spending accounts, and a 401(k) plan.

The Benefits wizard includes options to compare different plans and to estimate cost per employee, along with a brief section listing plan and provider details for each option. The comparison features in-network and out-of-network costs, co-pays, and reimbursements for different plan levels across dental, medical, and vision in a straightforward, if fairly bare-bones, chart format. Once all of the elections are chosen, employees simply submit the form to HR. A relatively new addition to the benefits menu comes with Sage Business Cloud People's integration with the FitBliss corporate wellness platform, announced late in 2016. Via Fitbliss, Sage Business Cloud People customers can keep their employees healthier by participating in wellness programs online. For example, FitBliss can manage things such as forming groups of employees with a similar sporting interest or organizing a particular wellness event around a weekend or holiday. And FitBliss can do it all by using a social media-style communications platform to further drive participation among employees.

Sage Business Cloud People doesn't pack the simplified user experience (UX) and expanded benefits customization and reporting that you'll find in Zenefits Z2, our Editors' Choice in the category. It also doesn't offer the built-in benefits onboarding automation and personalized plan recommendations of a tool such as Gusto. But Sage Business Cloud People handles all basic benefits in a straightforward, easy-to-enroll manner.

Sage Business Cloud People brings compliance with standards such as ISO27001, an information security management system (ISMS) standard that consists of controls for a risk-management process.

A Powerhouse HR Management Suite

The Sage Business Cloud People Professional service costs $10 per employee per month and includes analytics and reporting, core HR, employee self-service, off-boarding, performance management, talent management, and integration with third-party systems. The higher-level Enterprise service costs $12 per employee per month, and adds Sage Business Cloud Recruit as well as a resource and succession planning module. Included in the price are native Android and iOS apps with all of the functions of the web-based service, and an Apple Watch version of the app that's limited to notifications and push apps.

Sage Business Cloud People's relatively high price makes it one of the more expensive core HR platforms, in the same league as Namely and SAP SuccessFactors. But this is a case of getting what you pay for: a highly configurable, nearly complete, HR management suite that accommodates companies with employees outside the U.S. and integrates with multiple popular third-party payroll platforms and other outside vendors. Toss in loads of support and the fact that system admins who are existing Salesforce users could have a shorter learning curve, and you've got one hard-core option for people management.

Sage Business Cloud People

Bottom Line: Sage Business Cloud People offers strong support for larger companies with a foreign presence, those that can match people functions to their business practice, and those that can afford sophisticated configurability.

Rob was previously an editor at SD Times covering software, managing social media, and writing narrative-driven features on any offbeat story or trend he could find. He graduated from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications … See Full Bio